
We witnessed many great aspects about Everton in the Community‘s Breakfast Briefing last week.
No surprises there!
Proceedings got off to a flying start thanks to Sir John Jones who endeared himself as usual with his address to a packed Alex Young Suite at Goodison Park.
CEO Sue Gregory in typical slick fashion then followed with a comprehensive overview of EITC, also looking back at their emergence to the present day – they now employ 130 full time staff and we all know in the city that the organisation is the envy of the Premier League’s other teams.
EITC are far too humble to say that but I’m proud and loud about saying it!
They’re currently delivering more than 60 social programmes and have invested more than £13m of capital in the Liverpool 4 area.
And for every £1 invested in EITC, almost £30 is generated in societal value.
30,000 participants are now engaged directly in an EITC programme with their delivery impacting 156,000 people across the Liverpool City Region.
More than 21,000 residents with food and financial insecurity have been supported through the Blue Base Pantry in 2023/24.
Initiatives like the Goodison Sleepover 2024 raised £150,000
And the incredible stats literally go on and on.

Today’s panel-based event, expertly chaired by Darren Griffiths included Liam Eaglestone, EFC legend Leon Osman, Matthew Ashton and a young man, Liam Fairfield with a lovely story.
Liam voiced succinctly why the Steve Morgan Foundation is so passionate about helping communities across Merseyside and beyond.
Matt spoke of how positive he feels about the future given the last 12 months of close collaboration between health agencies here. All have been addressing the alarming statistics on our doorstep alongside the inequalities in some wards compared with others.
Leon who is an ambassador of the Steve Morgan Foundation talked about his richly fulfilling experience of getting involved with the charity as a player from almost day one.

Liam Fairfield could have had his eye turned by what occurs on the streets. Instead, as a young man of 17, he’s now secured a job with EITC and Liam spoke about his brighter future to rapturous applause from the audience. Think very warm, fuzzy moment.

Finally, Steve Rotherham acknowledged in concluding the event how, in spite of the many difficulties the Liverpool City Region faces, there was great optimism given the swathe of new jobs being created here, especially via the rapid growth of AI and the wider tech sector.
If you’re not already a supporter of EITC, have a look at how you can get involved. There are so many ways you can pay it forward.
